Or as the author of Hebrews put it:“Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.” Hebrews 1:3

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Grace and peace to you …

Over the last two weeks I have written a few thoughts about faith and finance. Finances are the “canary in the coalmine” when it comes to alerting us to whether we are following Jesus faithfully. Jesus himself says that what we do with our money reveals the location of our hearts: “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also” [Matt 6:21]

Below is an article written by Susan Taylor from the Faith and Money Network in which she helpfully discusses “Parenting for God’s Economy”:

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“In our materialistic culture, God-grounded parenting around money issues is a daily adventure, full of missteps and the occasional triumph.

My husband and I have learned to be (mostly) honest with our children about money. When I’m saying no to a request to purchase something or go somewhere, I almost never say, “We can’t afford that,” because that is rarely true. We could afford most anything we want to have or do. But that’s not the main criterion in making and modelling financial decisions.

I don’t want them to think we’re poor. I want them to understand that, as children of God, we’re inexpressibly rich. I want them to feel the joy and security of our abundance, of God’s abundance. So instead of saying, “We can’t afford it,” I say: “We’re choosing not to spend our money that way.” How much more empowering is that?

Sometimes we feel good about our parenting around money issues. Other things haven’t gone so well.

I’ve tried that much-prescribed method of dividing allowance into savings, spending and sharing. This simply doesn’t work for us. Somehow, all the pools get blended. Not only do our daughter’s savings get co-mingled with her sharing money, but somehow her money gets blended with her brother’s money occasionally.

Another persistent failure has been that the kids’ money is frequently not with us when we go to the store. So the negotiations go something like this: “I’ll buy this with my allowance money.” “Do you have that much money?” “Sure, mom.” “Okay, you can pay me back when we get home.” But when we get home, we’ve all lost track of the deal. Here, we’ve demonstrated using credit, not keeping track of our money, not preparing ahead for going to the store, and a long list of other bad money habits. I’m aware that we have more difficult and much more expensive lessons ahead.

As our children have matured, their understanding of the interrelationships within our global economy deepens. They now insist on shopping first at locally owned stores and the farmers’ market. They are convinced that fair trade chocolate tastes better than “regular” chocolate.

They know about these things because we talk about them. We explain why we’re shopping one place versus another. We’ve demonstrated being willing to put in a bit of extra effort to make a more just choice. As U.S. consumers demand ever-lower prices, we explain the cost to the people who make those products.

My best moment yet as a parent trying to teach faith and economics in this crazy culture happened recently. In the car, I was thinking of making the next light as my daughter looked out the window. As we passed the big-box “discount” store she quietly said, “Cheaper for whom?” My heart is still singing.”

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This is a wonderful illustration of what it means to be a Christian parent. It is more conscientising our children about justice than getting them to recite a creed.

Engaging the Community

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The Spaces In Between

Our garden, as a result of the drought, is not being watered. The plants that are growing are indigenous and water-wise - a great way to see what to plant in future to continue to conserve this sacred source of life.